Will Hugh Jackman be replaced for more Wolverine movies?

In The Wolverine (out July 26), Hugh Jackman’s Logan struggles with his immortality — a nasty side effect of the healing factor that allows his body to keep itself in perfect form indefinitely. Of course, Jackman himself doesn’t have any such power (though his bigger-than-your-entire-body biceps might lead you to believe otherwise). And as the actor dons the sideburns for the sixth time, fans can’t help wondering if the actor might eventually be replaced by a new face the same way Andrew Garfield stepped into Tobey Maguire’s Spider-Man suit, or Henry Cavill inherited Superman’s cape.

According to The Wolverine producer Hutch Parker, the very idea of passing the claws to a new actor “feels somewhat blasphemous.” But Jackman is more ambivalent about the possibility of another Wolverine movie. “I wasn’t even sure after the first [stand-alone] film if I would do another,” he tells EW. “I won’t say never, because I’m still loving it. But there would have to be a pretty compelling reason.”

Of course, The Wolverine won’t be the last time we see Jackman as Logan: The actor is already shooting his part in X-Men: Days of Future Past. And there’s even a chance that Wolvie could show up in The Avengers 2 (which takes place in the same Marvelverse as the X-Men saga). “I don’t even know how to handicap that. But it would certainly be exciting to see,” says Parker.